OneWay ConnectionLeaving Roswell
by a.lakewood
Summary: A (as of this moment) short, stand-alone piece. Hopefully there will be more segmentsparts later on. I've got the ideas for them, they just need to be written.


One-Way Connection/Leaving Roswell  
  
I. Michael had never been much of a talker, more of a doer. A hands-on type of person. Or one of those overly observant people who hung back from everyone else, unnoticed, but extremely keyed into everything that was going on.  
  
Prior to Max letting Liz in on the big secret he kept of his, Michael's, and Isabel's true nature, Michael had still been that way with his closest, and perhaps only, friends. The only others who knew and shared the secret of their not-of-this-worldness. As close as he was to them, he couldn't have possibly felt any more distant.  
  
At least not until he realized he'd made some sort of telepathic connection to Max and Isabel's emotions. At first, he had to make an effort to tap into their feelings, then the connection evolved into something he was constantly aware of. He learned to control this new...ability. This new power.  
  
Even before Nasedo and Tess and the talk of being prepared for their destinies, Michael had felt himself growing stronger and felt other powers beginning to develop. He knew that Max and Isabel were starting to sense their changes as well because he felt their apprehension of the future increasing and their confusion about the apprehension that was seemingly brought on by nothing.  
  
Michael never felt as close to Max and Isabel and Tess as he knew he should have, as close as they were in a previous life. They were supposed to be his family but Tess had never been there and had only recently joined their circle; Isabel rejected him and pushed him away, refusing to accept that she was destined to be with him; and, Max. Max pushed him away, too. Not in the same manner as Isabel, not exactly in a physical way. Max always talked down to him, lectured him. Michael did nothing but look up to Max, regardless of how many times he disagreed with Max's orders. Michael respected Max as their leader, but Max didn't respect Michael or his advice as Max's second-in-command.  
  
Whenever Michael and Max talked one-on-one, Michael was aware of the anger Max felt and directed at him, even if Max himself wasn't aware of it. Most of the time, Michael never knew what had caused Max's anger, his hostility.  
  
It hadn't been too long after the incident with Congresswoman Whitaker that Michael decided that, perhaps, Max, Isabel, and Tess would be better off without him. He stuck around long enough to help with the destruction of the harvest and the likely genocide of the Skins. Stuck around long enough for Courtney to die protecting the secret of the Granilith.  
  
He'd been thinking of leaving for awhile and, one evening while he sat in his apartment alone, eating dinner alone, feeling nothing, he decided that there was no time like the present. He put some clothes in his backpack as well as anything valuable that could be hocked, collected all of his money, and mounted his motorcycle. Briefly, he entertained the thought of stopping by the Evans' to say goodbye to Max, but he could feel Max's angst - the angst associated with Liz - and knew it would be best not to interrupt Max's brooding. Michael left Roswell and didn't look back.  
  
A few hundred miles later, Michael found himself in a seedy motel right off of the interstate. Even with so much distance between them, Michael was able to feel Max's emotions. First was fear coupled with worry that Michael wasn't in homeroom. The anger because Michael had failed to show up to school once again. Later in the afternoon, after school, he felt Max's frustration. Frustration about being a leader, not a babysitter - he wasn't going to check up on Michael.  
  
Around dinner time, Michael was getting a bag of Cheetos from the vending machine under an awning between rooms six and seven and he felt Max's fear return. If he closed his eyes and concentrated even harder, he was able to get even more detailed emotion and thought fragments, and was almost able to discern where Max was. Max was at the Crashdown hoping to talk to Liz, but ended up eating dinner with Tess - he was slowly opening himself up to the idea of him and Tess and their intertwined destinies. When Maria found Max and told him that Michael hadn't shown up for work and hadn't called in, Michael felt Max's fear mounting, imperceptibly at first.  
  
Michael knew when Max had entered his apartment to discover the door unlocked, the TV still on, and most of the rooms in shambles. A wave of Max's panic as well as a twinge of nausea passed over him as Max realized that Michael was gone, nowhere to be found.  
  
The constriction in his chest was unexpected, and he couldn't name the emotion that caused it.  
  
The rest of the night, Max's confusion and disbelief kept Michael company until they both succumbed to sleep. 


End file.
